Eliquis lowers stroke, major bleeding in older non-valvular AF patients

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE:BMY) and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) said a real-world analysis of U.S. patients ages >65 with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF) showed that Eliquis apixaban (BMS-562247-01) significantly reduced the risk of stroke and systemic embolism, and the risk of major bleeding, compared to warfarin. BMS spokesperson Rob Perry told BioCentury that the companies’ real-world analyses are intended to inform payer assessments, but not to support regulatory submissions to expand indications “at the current time.”

The study evaluated 14,214 matched-pair patients receiving Eliquis or warfarin in an insurance claims database from Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM). Compared to warfarin, Eliquis reduced the rates of stroke/systemic embolism by 35% (HR=0.65, p=0.001) and major bleeding by 47% (HR=0.53, p=0.001) compared to warfarin. Median follow-up was 6.3 months in Eliquis-treated patients and 8.3 months in the warfarin group...